Perilous Curiosity
by WrittenOnTheSubwayWalls
Summary: The divide between them on Starkiller never happens and Rey finds herself looming, lightsaber raised, over the creature that murdered Han Solo. Unwilling to give in to her dark desire for revenge, Rey decides to take something important from Kylo Ren instead, But the stolen item may be more of a burden to her than she realizes. Curiosity can be a perilous thing
1. Trophy

Disclaimer: I own nothing Star Wars

A/N: First shot at Reylo and I've got some interesting plans

 **Perilous Curiosity**

 ** _Prologue -_**

* * *

...

He was lying beneath her, gasping and sputtering, the marred flesh on his face making her stomach churn.

Had she won?

The fight had been intense. Red and Blue chased each other through the trees. Fury and hatred driving both of them into the most passionate fight Rey had ever had with another living being. He was so unpredictable, unstable, intimidating. His movements were rash and wild, and then confusingly calculated. Unimaginable skill would nearly have her six feet under until, it seemed, his emotions would get the best of him. It made her dizzy. It made her terrified! Reckless attacks had her head spinning-

 _Block  
Swing  
Step  
Run  
Block  
Swing  
Block_

They were a mess, the two of them wet from snow and sweat and panting like beasts. She blocked another down-swinging streak of red and held firm, using every bit of strength she had not to be toppled by the weight of him. Their lightsabers crackled. Spews of red sparks had Rey squinting and leaning her head back.

"You need a teacher." Kylo Ren shouted to her over the noise, shaking wisps of dark hair away from his eyes and staring at her as if the ferocity in them alone could defeat her. "I could show you the ways of the force."  
Rey cried out as he stepped closer, pressing so that she had to bend her knees just to steady herself.

That's when it all had changed.

The power... The power she had felt within herself had been positively _exhilarating_.

Ren faltered, tripping and giving into all of his emotions while Rey attacked and the battle instantly took a turn. Kylo Ren was on his back, staring up at Rey with anger, pain, and disbelief twisting his now scorched face.

But the battle wasn't finished yet.  
She was still angry! Han was still dead and Finn was hurt and _this man_ was to blame!

Rey seethed, teeth clenched, watching Ren make several attempts to sit up. She could've laughed at the pathetic sight, even imagined the saber slicing through him. The terrifying knight of darkness cut down at last as Rey's weapon was driven through his chest or maybe across his neck. The look on his face when she did would be that of shock and maybe a bit of admiration. He would slump back, defeated and harmless and utterly dead,

And that _would_ kill him, wouldn't it? That childish fear struck her only for a blink. Surely he was not so untouchable, so completely made up of nightmares, that decapitation would only cause to aggravate him. So _childish..._

Again he frantically tried to rise. He wheezed, coughed,

 _Breathed,_

The incessant sound of his rattling breath did _nothing_ but unnerve her. Killing him would be a little like putting him out of his misery, wouldn't it?

She could do it.

The chill was starting to catch up with them now that they were both still. The snow had gotten worse. The wind blew hard against her face, blowing strands of hair into her eyes and making every part of her shiver... Every part of her except for her hands which held onto that metal hilt so tightly she could feel the grooves cutting into her skin.

She supposed people would praise her. They would call her a hero...

 _Rey: the hero of the rebellion_ (Well it did have a nice ring to it) Not quite a last name, but it would do and she would never be left behind again. _Heroes_ _were never left behind._

She would take her revenge on this creature, this monster who murdered the only father figure she had ever known...

 _Han Solo._

The thought of the old man's crooked smirk filled her with as much light as it did sorrow. He had been so kind to her, well as kind as she was sure he could be. He had been a friend! Like the father she'd never had...a father

 _Kylo Ren's father_.

Rey's brow furrowed as her mind took an immediate step back. Kylo Ren _had_ a father. He had mother too because he was as real and as human as she was. He was a thinking, breathing, feeling man, a man that was now lying at her feet completely at the mercy of the saber in her hand,

And she didn't like the feeling.

Ren shifted, bringing his right leg up closer to his torso and digging the heel of his boot into the snow and dirt. Rey figured he must have sensed her uncertainty. She was running out of time to think. How long had they been like this? Seconds? Minutes?

Her clear reluctance to 'finish the job' only brought a knowing glint to the force-user's dark eyes.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" He coughed and snuffed, baring his teeth like a an animal in pain.

Was he goading her?

The scavenger wasn't exactly taken aback. This villain was, without question, completely insane. But it _did_ frighten her. He was provoking her to kill him? Why? Did he think she wouldn't do it?

Ren added. "Then do it... if you have the _courage._ "

"Courage?" She spat back at him. What did he mean? If she were to spare his life, it would be cowardice? How twisted were this man's thoughts? She should kill him just for saying that! And she wanted to-  
 _Oooh_ how she wanted to... for Han... for Finn! She wanted to see Kylo Ren cry out again, to see him hurt like her friend was hurting. She wanted to take revenge! To cut off every one of his limbs! To make him suffer! To take his life like he took Han's! She would run him through any day, any place, any time if it would bring Han back! She would murder...

 _murder_

That single thought sobered her like a slap in the face. Han wasn't coming back. No act of revenge would never help that. Han wasn't coming back, Finn needed her,

And Rey would never murder an unarmed man.

"Weak" She snapped out of her thoughts and huffed, staring down at the sprawled out form of her enemy. Weak? The word sounded ridiculous coming from _his_ mouth. She couldn't wait for him to check a mirror.

"Defeated." Was all she growled back. Rey had made her decision, cowardly or not. She'd take this win and leave him alive... _for now_.

A glimmer out of the corner of her eye turned her attention to Ren's lightsaber. Ugly and haunting, it stuck out of the snow a mere few feet from its master's shaking left hand. _'The perfect revenge...'_ she thought bitterly _,_ side stepping and crouching down to pick up villain's deactivated weapon. Ren was absurdly baffled, his mouth opening and closing as she backed up.

" ** _Girl_**." He warned and lifted his hand. Rey tightened her hold on the junky metal and put about twenty feet between them. She wasn't fooled. He was too weak to get it back from her, she was sure. They'd be miles upon miles apart by the time he'd be able to do anything about it. The thought of her being the reason he'd never see this lightsaber again was almost enough to make her smile. She'd dig a hole and throw it in, or drop it into a junkyard, or hide it in a dark cave in the middle of nowhere. She _did_ smile at that, finally turning around and making her way back to where she'd left Finn. In the distance, Rey could see Chewbacca carrying a limp body onto the Millennium Falcon.

 _ **"SCAVENGER!"**_

The terrible cry had her head whipping back around. Behind her, Ren made one last ditch effort... a horribly desperate attempt to crawl to his knees, reaching out with his hands as if to choke her (or retrieve his lightsaber. She couldn't tell which). The display was frightening. With every bit of his grace lost, he truly looked like a monster from a tiny child's nightmare.

"Finn." She shook her head with determination and turned back around, continuing on towards the ship. Finn. She had to think of Finn. Nothing, but Finn.

Another shout. A howl. A heart wrenching, terrifying cry of anguish and frustration was the last she'd heard of Kylo Ren. It tore into her heart and stabbed at her humanity.

She'd felt it then, an odd sensation. The pull. An overwhelming feeling coming from the stolen weapon in her hand as she climbed up the entry ramp and into the ship.

...

* * *

A/N: Hmm very odd indeed ;D Please leave review if you'd like to read more!


	2. Strange

Disclaimer: I own nothing Star Wars

A/N: Christmas quickie... oo that sounds dirty

 **Perilous Curiosity**

 ** _Chapter 1 - Strange  
_**

* * *

...

The low hum of the Millennium Falcon was soothing enough to sleep to, but she was far too worried to rest. Sitting cross-legged on one of the lounge seats, she stared at Finn's still face. His expression was pained, sweat ran down his feverish brow.

"Finn," Her voice broke. The ex-stormtrooper wasn't doing well, she didn't need to be a doctor to know that. The almost nonexistent rise and fall of his chest made her want to breakdown into tears again. What a mess her friend had found himself in. Torn and broken as he was, nothing was more frustrating to Rey than being unable to pull the man into a crushing hug. He had been there since the beginning of all this madness. To go on without him... no, she simply couldn't.

Of course, there were worse things. At least Finn was _alive_. The same couldn't be said for the other friend she had made along this journey...

Warm tears that had gathered in the corner of her brown eyes finally fell. "Stop it." She willed. "Stop crying." If Chewy caught her crying- "Enough now. Enough." she needed to be the strong one, at least until they reached the base. Chewbacca was beside himself. He didn't make a sound except for every once in a while when she'd hear the wookie cry out in absolute sorrow. It broke her heart. If Chewy had truly known Han for as long as the old man said he had, Rey could only imagine the pain.

The brunette slid off her seat and kneeled beside Finn's bunk. Picking up the cloth she'd found in the medical cabinet, Rey began wiping the trickling beads of sweat from Finn's forehead, watching peace gradually settle over his features.

"You'll be alright, Finn." She muttered to his sleeping face, grasping his hand and squeezing. "You idiot." The last bit came as more of a chuckle and she brushed away a persistent tear from beneath her eye. So stupid. He could have made a run for it. He could have left her to fend for herself against the First Order, left her to whatever might have happened had she not run into him and Han that moment on the ship. But Finn didn't run. Instead, he chose to come after her- _HER_. The nobody. A gesture so heroic should receive all the praise in the world, Rey thought. Getting himself hurt to protect-

Her eyes squeezed shut. She was going to cry again. No. No! It just didn't seem fair! Stupid First order. Stupid force. Stupid Kylo Ren!

 _Kylo Ren..._

 _That absolute bastard!_

He was an entirely _different_ stomachache she could hardly bear to think about,

Horrible. His crazed, manic fighting style and his intense eyes. Thick dark hair waving around his face like a mad man, sweat making the tangled mess stick up in every direction like a self-proclaimed prince of the underworld. The crooked smile that had looked so much like... like Han's. The terrifying scrunched up face of a beast howling in fury. The panic and awe when she'd bested him.

Rey cracked a dry smile despite herself, remembering the absolute horror on Ren's face when he'd realized the scavenger intended to steal his toy. There in the snow, she hadn't cared what happened to him once she'd turned around. Her meaner self hoped he'd be eaten by wild animals, but no such luck. Weaponless, bleeding, and completely helpless Kylo Ren survived anyway.  
Before the Falcon had taken off, Chewy caught a glimpse of Ren's men peeling him off the frozen ground.

Pitty.

 _"I can teach you the ways of the force"_

Yes, he probably could have, but it would be a cold day on Jakku before she'd let Kylo Ren teach her _anythin_ g.

Sliding her butt to the floor under Finn, she dug into her shirt and pulled out the dark force user's weapon of choice: The crossguard lightsaber.

It was disturbing even up close. What looked to be scraps of jagged metal barely held together with wires braided unattractively through its core...so unstable. Why would anyone wield such a piece of trash? Inspecting every inch, Rey fiddled with it, tossing it between her hands, testing its weight. Frightful thing. Poorly constructed and poorly cared for. Rey wondered how well the thing even worked. It was lighter than she thought it would be, but ugly. Very ugly. Definitely not a weapon she'd ever be proud to tote aro- _ah_

 _ **"AHHGHH!"**_

The girl violently reeled, suddenly feeling a sharp pain shoot up through her arm and into her head. She shook and gasped. Let go! Let go of it! Rey tried. Strange... Dizzying thoughts passed through her like a ghost, echoing throughout her skull like someone blowing a musical instrument into her ear. "ahhnuh-rrr-damn" She whimpered and cursed, curling in on herself and pressing the palm of her other hand into her eyes.

 _What was happening?_

Rey could see bright lights. Three circular lamps were shining down on her face, making it hard for her to open her eyes. Everything was white. The smell was too clean. Dizzy. She was so dizzy and the pain in her head was still throbbing.

 _ **"Ren?"**_ The pain pulsed and then faded, slowly seeping away like a release of pressure. _**"Kylo Ren, open your eyes."**_ A man's voice that she didn't recognize attempted to coax her eyes open to the lights above her head.

 _ **"Too bright."**_ The lamps were too bright! She couldn't! They had their hands on her face, pulling on her chin... tapping on her cheek. Rey tried to protest. They were so much stronger than her. _**"Stop!"**_ She tried to pull away. She tried to remove their hands... holding her down! Fever. Pain. Pain. Pain!

 _ **"Stop! Release**_ Let _**me**_ go _ **!-"**_

"STOP!" The girl cried out, throwing the shoddy weapon down upon the grates. Her eyes opened at last to the dim lights aboard the Millennium Falcon. A vision? A memory? What had she just experienced?

Her breaths were coming in heaving gasps, as the smell of old leather and must filled her senses. A few feet away, Finn quietly tossed his head side to side.

"Rey..." Tiny and helpless, like the mew of a kitten, Finn said her name!

"Finn!" Shakily climbing to her feet, she dragged herself back to her feverish friend's side. "Finn, I'm here. You're safe. Sleep." Rey hushed.

A blurry cloud still fogged her confused mind and A few gulps did little to cure her nausea. A vision. It had to have been a vision. Rey ran the back of her hand across her face and kicked Ren's lightsaber under the table from her squatted position by the bed.

She would deal with that later. For now, Finn needed her and she would stay by his side the whole journey if she had to.

...

* * *

 _A/N:_ Just a sign that this story is still kickin. Had a busy show season, now it's time to write!


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